Manson Family Recordings May Lead to More Unsolved Murders

In a search for evidence in unsolved murders, the Los Angeles Police Department is seeking eight hours of audio recordings of Charles “Tex” Watson, who is currently serving a life sentence for his involvement in the 1969 Manson Family murders.

According to NBC4 News in Los Angeles, police are trying to determine if there are any connections between unsolved cases and followers of Charles Manson. The recordings were reportedly made while Watson, considered Manson’s right-hand man, was a client of Texas attorney Bill Boyd, who died in 2009.

The request for the recordings was contained in a March letter from LAPD Chief Charlie Beck to a Justice Department trustee involved in a bankruptcy proceeding to settle Boyd’s estate. A hearing that could determine whether the audio will be released to police is scheduled for May 29, NBC4 reported.

“It is requested that the original recordings be given to the LAPD in order to determine if information regarding unsolved murders was included in the recordings,” Beck wrote in his letter dated March 19.

Watson was originally sentenced to death for his involvement in the murders of Sharon Tate Polanski, Abigail Ann Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Thomas Jay Sebring, and Steven Earl Parent. But his sentence was commuted to life when California temporarily suspended the death penalty in 1972.